Analysis of “Farhod and Shirin” and the perfect human being

Knowing the dastan only as a plot is like knowing a fairy tale: behind it hides a symbolic Sufi meaning, and first we notice its artistry. The word “shabiston” has two meanings – “night” and “bedchamber” – which is the art of iham; the childless khagan’s dark life is carried over to “shabiston” and Farhod to “new moon”, and since the things compared are dropped, this is a metaphor (istiora). The repetition of “pok” (pure) stresses Farhod’s outer and inner purity and gives the lines music, while the poet compares Shirin to the king of the harem of chastity and the moon of the sky of purity. From the Sufi viewpoint Farhod is a seeker (solik) striving for purification and perfection, Shirin the mirror of faith, Chin a symbol of the true land of wisdom and beauty. Khusrav and Sheruya stand for the rule of the base self and Satan, and the obstacles on Farhod’s road express the hardships of the path of faith. According to the textbook’s conclusion, each person is on the side of either faith or Satan; Farhod’s path is hard but ends well.